Alligators shy, timid, experts say

10:53 PM,
Sep. 4, 2013

Written by

Brian Albert Broom
bbroom@clarionledger.com

They grow to incredible sizes, have bone-crushing jaws and are the stuff of nightmares. But are alligators really the man-eating killers some make them out to be?

Not according to Ricky Flynt, alligator program coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks. "There are huge misperceptions about alligators," said Flynt. "It is largely caused by the drama of Hollywood and some TV shows."

Because of their size and appearance, alligators often have been portrayed as beasts lying in wait to sink their teeth into humans and dismember them with their jaws and the ...